And they say PCs are good with numbers

Ashley Milne-Tyte Aug 17, 2007

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: Computer maker Dell was caught cheating. Yesterday, Dell said it’ll have to restate four years worth of earnings.Turns out a few executives were fudging numbers so Dell could hit certain performance goals.

Ashley Milne-Tyte looks at how this might affect the company.


Ashley Milne-Tyte: It looks like Dell’s bottom line won’t take a big hit. The company says the earnings restatement will reduce net income for fiscal years 2003 through the first part of ’07.

It could cost the company up to $150 million. That’s nothing compared to the billions Dell earned during that time.

Michael Gartengberg is an analyst with Jupiter Research.

Michael Gartengberg: We’re talking about certainly a blemish on their reputation, but it appears that, you know, these were things that were done under the prior regime, which makes it somewhat less onerous.

At the time, Kevin Rollins was CEO. Michael Dell returned to the post earlier this year.

Gartengberg says the computer maker will continue to work with the SEC. He says Dell needs to concentrate on expanding its business and grabbing back the title of top PC maker from rival Hewlett-Packard.

In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.

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